DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5541#0169
Chap, x.]
FOUNTAINS ON THE ROADS.
141
watch these mountain passes arc generally Xebeques, a class
of peasants inhabiting the banks of the Mseander, and the
country between that river and the Hermus, and who a few
}rears ago, for some real or imaginary wrongs, rose in arms
against the authority of the Sultan. They were, and occa-
sionally still are, as great robbers as those whom they pro-
fess to put down, and generally keep a coffee-shop, which
affords a decent excuse for every passer by to halt, and
under the pretence of refreshment, to allow himself to be
quietly relieved of a few piastres in the shape of bakshish.
We were much struck, on all the roads in Asia Minor, at
the great number of fountains which we met with. They
are invaluable to the traveller over the parched and dried-
up plains, and are often the result of the pure benevolence
and genuine native hospitality of the Turkish peasant. In
some places, where there is no spring or supply of water to
form a running stream, the charitable inhabitant of a neigh-
bouring village places a large vessel of water in a rude hut,
built either of stone or boughs, to shade it from the sun;
this jar or vessel is filled daily, or as often as necessity
requires, and the water is sometimes brought from a dis-
tance of many miles.
At lh. 22m. we left the valley, and turned suddenly to
the right over the hills, which began to show symptoms of
cultivation. I was much struck with the simplicity of many
of the agricultural implements of the Turks, which did not
appear to have benefited by the improvements in machinery
since the days of Triptolcmus. The harrow consisted sim-
ply of a heavy log, or beam of wood placed at right
angles to the pole, to which were yoked a pair of oxen—the
driver standing upon the transverse beam, in order to in-
crease the weight, as it was dragged over the furrows.
The threshing board was a piece of wood about four feet
long and nearly two in width, somewhat resembling those
used in Spain; but here the lower surface was stuck full of
flints, placed edgewise, about two inches in length, and
projecting about half an inch beyond the wood: in some
FOUNTAINS ON THE ROADS.
141
watch these mountain passes arc generally Xebeques, a class
of peasants inhabiting the banks of the Mseander, and the
country between that river and the Hermus, and who a few
}rears ago, for some real or imaginary wrongs, rose in arms
against the authority of the Sultan. They were, and occa-
sionally still are, as great robbers as those whom they pro-
fess to put down, and generally keep a coffee-shop, which
affords a decent excuse for every passer by to halt, and
under the pretence of refreshment, to allow himself to be
quietly relieved of a few piastres in the shape of bakshish.
We were much struck, on all the roads in Asia Minor, at
the great number of fountains which we met with. They
are invaluable to the traveller over the parched and dried-
up plains, and are often the result of the pure benevolence
and genuine native hospitality of the Turkish peasant. In
some places, where there is no spring or supply of water to
form a running stream, the charitable inhabitant of a neigh-
bouring village places a large vessel of water in a rude hut,
built either of stone or boughs, to shade it from the sun;
this jar or vessel is filled daily, or as often as necessity
requires, and the water is sometimes brought from a dis-
tance of many miles.
At lh. 22m. we left the valley, and turned suddenly to
the right over the hills, which began to show symptoms of
cultivation. I was much struck with the simplicity of many
of the agricultural implements of the Turks, which did not
appear to have benefited by the improvements in machinery
since the days of Triptolcmus. The harrow consisted sim-
ply of a heavy log, or beam of wood placed at right
angles to the pole, to which were yoked a pair of oxen—the
driver standing upon the transverse beam, in order to in-
crease the weight, as it was dragged over the furrows.
The threshing board was a piece of wood about four feet
long and nearly two in width, somewhat resembling those
used in Spain; but here the lower surface was stuck full of
flints, placed edgewise, about two inches in length, and
projecting about half an inch beyond the wood: in some